Friday Finds | 12th October

I’ve been good and only added a few new books to my TBR recently, I’m really excited for all of them though, and they’re all from different genres.

Keep reading to find some new books!

The Road Out of Hell by Anthony Flacco with Jerry Clark

Synopsis:From 1926 to 1928, Gordon Stewart Northcott committed at least 20 murders on a chicken ranch outside of Los Angeles. His nephew, Sanford Clark, was held captive there from the age of 13 to 15, and was the sole surviving victim of the killing spree. Here, acclaimed crime writer Anthony Flacco—using never-before-heard information from Sanford’s son Jerry Clark—tells the real story behind the case that riveted the nation.

Forced by Northcott to take part in the murders, Sanford carried tremendous guilt all his life. Yet despite his youth and the trauma, he helped gain some justice for the dead and their families by testifying at Northcott’s trial–which led to his conviction and execution. It was a shocking story, but perhaps the most shocking part of all is the extraordinarily ordinary life Clark went on to live as a decorated WWII vet, a devoted husband of 55 years, a loving father, and a productive citizen.

In dramatizing one of the darkest cases in American crime, Flacco constructs a riveting psychological drama about how Sanford was able to detoxify himself from the evil he’d encountered, offering the ultimately redemptive story of one man’s remarkable ability to survive a nightmare and emerge intact.

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I saw this book featured on a Goodreads blog and thought it sounded like a really interesting case, then the crime was featured on My Favorite Murder and I just knew I had to read this book because the story for it is sooooo weird!!

The Doll Factory by Elizabeth Macneal

Synopsis: London. 1850. The Great Exhibition is being erected in Hyde Park and among the crowd watching the spectacle two people meet. For Iris, an aspiring artist, it is the encounter of a moment – forgotten seconds later, but for Silas, a collector entranced by the strange and beautiful, that meeting marks a new beginning.

When Iris is asked to model for pre-Raphaelite artist Louis Frost, she agrees on the condition that he will also teach her to paint. Suddenly her world begins to expand, to become a place of art and love.

But Silas has only thought of one thing since their meeting, and his obsession is darkening…

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So this probably sounds like a bit of a romantic book which I never tend to read, but the synopsis is giving me The Miniaturist vibes, which was a book I loved, so I think this is worth giving a go. Plus the cover is to die for!!

Halcyon by Rio Youers

Synopsis: HALCYON is the answer for all Americans who want to escape, but paradise isn’t what it seems.

A beautiful island in the middle of Lake Ontario―a self-sustaining community made up of people who want to live without fear, crime, or greed. Halcyon is run by Valerie Kemp, aka Mother Moon, benevolent and altruistic on the outside, but hiding an unimaginable darkness inside. She has dedicated her life to the pursuit of Glam Moon, a place of eternal beauty and healing. And she believes the pathway there can only be found at the end of pleasure.

On the heels of tragedy, Martin Lovegrove moves his family to Halcyon. A couple of months, he tells himself, to retreat from the chaos and grind. He soon begins to suspect there is something beneath Halcyon’s perfect veneer and sets out to discover the truth―however terrible it might be―behind the island and its mysterious founder, Mother Moon.

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I was sent this book by Titan Books and I can’t wait to get into it! It sounds like a spooky cult story… my favourite!

So there we have it. Those are my TBR additions from the past few weeks!